You're welcome here
by sookieandsamfan
Summary: Twist on TV plotline with an invented character as a love interest for Daryl Dixon. What would happen if Eric had a sister, Abby?
1. A new friend

So this story below is a total deviation from the plot of AMC's _The Walking Dead_, which I adore as is by the way. I'm itching for Daryl to have a love interest – female or male (as I know there are some rumors out there about that). I figure the show will get there eventually, but in the meantime, I've decided to create my own little plot line with a new character – simply for entertainment and enjoyment. I own nothing. Set starting right after Aaron convinced Daryl to be the other recruiter for Alexandria.

In the show:

Daryl: "Okay, I've got nothing else do to anyways," he says and pauses. I'll get you some rabbits."

Aaron smiles. "Okay."

My story…

"Well, I should be getting back," says Daryl.

"No rush," said Aaron. "No way the party is over yet. Your family is probably still there. Why don't you stay for some coffee? Do you like coffee?"

"Yeah, okay. Guess I could do that," Daryl responds.

"Great," Aaron says and walks over to hand him a key. "This key will get you into that door over there," he says pointing to the back of the garage. "You are welcome here any time – here in the garage or inside, okay?" Daryl takes the key and just nods his head. He's not used to such kindness, and though there's still a slight tinge of skepticism somewhere in the back of his mind, he can tell Aaron is just a genuinely nice, stand-up guy.

The pair makes their way back into the living room where Eric is sitting in a chair reading a book with his leg propped up. Daryl joins him sitting on the couch while Aaron heads to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.

"You must have said yes if you are staying," Eric says grinning. Daryl can't help but give him a slight smile.

"You okay with me taking your job," Daryl asked quietly.

"Yes," Eric responds. "I won't be really back on my feet for weeks, and to be honest I'm not really the right partner for Aaron out there. He worries too much about me, and it clouds his judgment. I'll honestly better about his safety with you than with me."

"Thanks, man," Daryl responds. He's again uncomfortable with how nice both these men are, but he knows it's not being fake. They are just nice.

"Do you want cream or sugar?" Aaron calls from the kitchen.

"No, black is fine," Daryl responds. A few minutes later Aaron comes into the room carrying a tray with three mugs of coffee. He hands Eric a cup that almost looks like milk. "Eric likes his cream with a splash of coffee," Aaron says laughing. "Hey," Eric says with fake hurt. "Don't make fun. Not much to enjoy in this world – can't a man have his coffee the way he likes it." "I'm kidding," Aaron replies gently passing Daryl one of the two black cups of coffee left on the tray. He takes the other for himself and sits down in a chair near Eric.

Daryl surprises himself by being the first one to talk, but he's curious to know more about his new role. "So, how does being a recruiter work?" he asks taking a sip of and savoring the hot coffee. He hasn't had coffee in more than a year before being here.

"Well, we typically go out every few weeks or so," Aaron replies. "Sometimes the other community members who patrol or go on food runs will see folks and we might go check it out, but mostly we sort of drive around and just see what we can find," Aaron continues. "In the past, Eric and I have recruited people maybe every three to four times. The other times, we either don't find anyone or we don't find the right people. We also look for supplies while we are out. We are usually gone for four to five days a time. You're family is the largest groups we've ever recruited. And we watched you for several weeks. It was a first for us. Most of the other people we bring in are alone, in pairs, or a family."

"How many people live here," Daryl asks.

Eric answers him. "About fifty now with your group. We think we could reasonably support up to a hundred though."

Daryl is getting ready to ask more when he hears the front door open. He immediately tenses, but Aaron quickly says, "Don't worry, it's just Eric's sister Abby. She was at the party. She lives here with us." Daryl relaxes and looks over the back of the couch just in time to see a bouncing long brown ponytail breeze past them down the hallway to the kitchen. He can see she's carrying several large trays in her hands. "Hi Abby," Eric calls out. "How was the party?"

"Great," the woman replies from the kitchen as she launches into a long description without letting anyone else get a word in edgewise. He can hear that she's unloading whatever she had in her hands into the fridge and onto the counter. "I brought home some leftover for you guys. Mrs. Norris made a chocolate cake that is to die for. Most of the newbies were there." Aaron glances uncomfortably at both Eric and Daryl as she says this. He knows that Abby speaks her mind without filters, and she's not aware at this point Daryl is there. Before he can interrupt her though she continues.

"They all seem really nice. Maggie is so sweet. I talked with her a bit. And, her husband Glenn is great too. Noah is really quiet. Abraham got pretty drunk," she laughs when she says this. "I think he was hitting on just about every girl there. Noah is quiet but sweet. I didn't get a chance to talk to many of the other folks. Everyone was dying to hold Rick's baby, so he was pretty tied up all night. There was one little outburst," she continues still sorting and straightening whatever she's brought back and not looking toward them in the living room. "Jeannine was badgering Sasha about what she could cook her for a meal. I mean really – the woman's been out in the woods for who knows how long eating who knows what if anything, and she's all, well I don't want to make you something you don't' like. Sasha yelled at her that it was stupid to worry about that. Or something like that. Anyways – I don't blame her. She's clearly still shell-shocked. I heard she lost her boyfriend and brother in like two weeks times That poor girl. I felt bad for her. Jeannine's pride was hurt I think but everyone moved on quickly."

_Is she really still talking_, Daryl thought to himself. How can she breathe? He was listening intently as she talked about his family and pleased so far at her assessment. It quieted to the point that he deduced she had finally put all her stuff away. He heard her open a cabinet and could see her pick up the coffee pot to pour herself a cup.

"Noticeably absent from the party was Daryl Dixon," she continued and Daryl came to full attention at the sound of his name. "Abby," Aaron said quickly attempting to interrupt her and get her attention as there was no telling what she was about to say. She didn't notice though and continued as she stirred some cream into her coffee. Daryl could only see her midsection because of the way the kitchen cabinets were constructed. "Too bad," she said laughing slightly. Then in a sort of sigh she added, "What I wouldn't give to be the one to tame that wild stallion!" All three men in the living room's eyes grew wide, and Eric nearly spit out the coffee he was drinking. Daryl was stunned. _Did she really just say that? And, did she just say that about him?_

Abby set down the spoon and finally emerged from the kitchen to come join them in the living room. "So, what have you two been up to?" she asked as she rounded the end of the counter. Complete silence fell over the room as she finally made eye contact with them and realized that there were three people in the living room – one of whom was Daryl Dixon. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes widened and she flushed – turning red everywhere not covered by her dress. It was Aaron who broke the silence, "Abby, this is Daryl Dixon. Daryl, Eric's sister Abby," he introduced them. Daryl stood and moved toward her to shake her hand. She grasped it firmly and held his gaze. Daryl took a moment to really finally look at her. He couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. She was in her mid to late 20s and had long dark brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail. She had bright green eyes and pale skin. She was about his height but was wearing several inch heals with a light purple dress. "Would it make it better or worse if I threw up right now," she asked him smiling in embarrassment. Daryl just laughed a bit and said, "It's nice to meet you." "Sorry about that," she said as he sat back down on the couch. She sat there too, but on the other end leaving the section in the middle open. "I was not aware we had guests." Daryl could tell she was embarrassed but not at all ashamed about what she had said. He immediately liked that. She was clearly a confident girl.

"Forgive my sister," Eric chimed in. "She has absolutely no sense of tact."

"I do too," Abby retorted in a way that only brothers and sisters talk to each other. "I didn't know he was here. I was just making girl talk with you two," she jokes diverting the attention back away from her. "Anyways – let's move on shall we," she said dramatically. They all laughed and did just that continuing to chat and talk over coffee. Daryl learned quickly that Abby had been living with Aaron and Eric while in graduate school in the D.C. area. "After everything went to hell, we were just bouncing around trying to stay alive and we managed to find this place. We are so lucky," Eric said. The three of them smiled at each other, and Daryl recognized the sentiment. Family sticking together. These three had perhaps not endured the same hardships his group had overcome, but he could tell how much these people loved each other. He admired and respected that.

After he finished his coffee, Daryl stood up. "I should get going," he said. This time, Aaron didn't argue or push him to stay longer. He could tell Daryl was really trying, and he appreciated it. "I'll show you out," Aaron said also standing.

"Great to meet you, Daryl," Eric chimed in. "You are welcome here anytime."

"Ditto," said Abby smiling broadly.

Daryl simply nodded and followed Aaron to the door.

"Well," he said to Aaron. "See you later."

"Okay," Aaron said smiling warmly. "And, Daryl, really thanks for agreeing to the job. I think we are going to make a great team."

Daryl gave Aaron a slight smile and slipped out the door heading home. That night he fell asleep thinking about his new friends, especially the pretty Abby.


	2. Getting to know each other

A few days later…

Daryl was in the garage one late afternoon working on the bike when the door opened. There stood Abby in jeans a t-shirt clutching multiple drinks in her arms.

"I thought I heard you out here," she said smiling. "Thirsty? I have water, soda or a beer."

"Water is fine, thanks," said Daryl. Abby let the garage door close behind her and walked further into the room setting down the drinks on a nearby workbench and walking closer to Daryl to hand him the bottle water. He opened it and took a long sip. To his surprise, she didn't leave. Instead, she leaned up against the workbench and said, "So what are you trying to do?"

"Just trying to get it running, I guess," Daryl responded.

"What's that you are working on," Abby asked pointing to the pieces he had in his hands. Daryl wasn't used to chatting, which is what she was doing, but he didn't want to be rude. And truth be told, he didn't want her to leave.

"It's the carburetor," he responded. "It's shot to hell. I'm trying to figure out which parts I can salvage and what I can be on the lookout for on runs that might get her going."

"Cool," Abby replied. "You sure seem to be in your element. Were you a mechanic?"

Daryl felt a stirring in his chest. He was touched that she seemed truly interested in him.

"No, but I've worked on cars and other stuff – lawn mowers, bikes, you name it, pretty much my whole life. My dad always had some junker lying around," he answered. He was about to continue for some reason moved to tell her about the time when he was 14 and sold a dirt bike he fixed for $100 bucks just to buy more parts when the door opened again. This time Aaron stood in the doorway. He smiled at them both.

"I was going to see if you needed anything, but I see you are well tended," he said nodding at the drinks.

"Yep, we're good," Abby responded. Daryl could tell that Aaron was just as much of a brother to her as Eric.

"Okay," Aaron responded. He then added a bit cautiously, "Abby, Daryl is trying to work, so don't bother him, okay?" Aaron knew it was hard for Daryl to get to know people, and he didn't want Abby to spook him.

"I'm not bothering him," she bit back. Then she looked at Daryl and batted her long eyelashes. "Daryl, am I bothering you?" Daryl looked back and her then turned to Aaron and said, "She's not bothering me."

"Fine," Aaron conceded laughing. "Abby, don't forget it's your turn to cook dinner." Abby rolled her eyes and said, "I know, dad," in an overdramatic way. Aaron laughed again and shut the door quietly behind him.

"So where were we," she asked Daryl smiling. Daryl decided he should ask her something about herself. "You not working today," he asked. He wasn't sure what her role was in this place. "Already finished," she responded. "I'm the teacher for the elementary school kids." Daryl noted that made sense as she was clearly an educated woman. "I teach every weekday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Keeps me busy. Sometimes I fill in for the high school classes that meet in the afternoon until 5 if Mrs. Price's arthritis is acting up. Not today though."

"Cool," Daryl responded. "I'm sure the kids love you," he added surprising them both. Abby laughed. "They tolerate me. The oldest ones don't understand why it matters to keep learning in this world. I try to reassure them that it won't be like the forever, and they still need their education. I sure hope that's true." She added the last sentence quietly, almost sadly. She sighed then moved on quickly, so tell me more about all this she said gesturing to the bike and parts lying around.

Daryl talked her through the parts of the engine he planned to work on and named a few things he would need. He told her about the bike and how he'd had one like before and it was one of his favorites. Daryl wasn't generally much of a talker, but he understood and liked bikes, so he was happy to share. Abby listened intently smiling and asking a few follow-ups. Finally when Daryl felt like he was rambling, and his stomach told him it was getting close to dinnertime, he paused and looked up at her.

"So, are you interested in bikes?" he asked her.

She laughed warmly. "Not really," she responded honestly.

"Oh," Daryl said a bit taken aback. "Then why are you here?" He didn't say it meanly, just matter of factly because he really wanted to know.

She laughed again and leaned a bit closer to him so she could answer in a loud whisper. She looked right in his eyes and said smiling, "Because I'm interested in you."

Daryl blinked a few times registering her words. He didn't know what to say, so he just smiled back. He couldn't believe this pretty, smart young woman was interested in him, but he wasn't complaining.

"Well," she announced. "I'd better go make dinner before Aaron puts me in detention," she joked. "Will you stay? I'm making meatloaf."

"Yeah, okay," Daryl responded shaking his head yes.

"Good," she said back. "I'll come back and give you a 10-minute warning when it's almost ready." With that, she whisked out of the garage.

Daryl kept working on the bike but was quite distracted. He smiled to himself. _This girl could be big trouble for me in a good way_ he thought to himself.

About a half hour later, Abby returned to tell him that dinner was almost ready. He washed up and joined her, Eric and Aaron in the kitchen. A plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans was waiting for him along with a large glass of tea. "This is really good," Daryl said looking at Abby after he had taken a few bites. "Thanks," she responded happily. "My secret ingredient is a can of tomato soup. It makes the meatloaf super flavorful." Daryl was pleased he had managed to compliment her. He wasn't great at stuff like that. He didn't talk much the rest of dinner just enjoyed listening to the three of them carrying on with each other. It dawned on him that it had been a long time since he had felt happiness of any kind. _Could he find that here? With Abby potentially? Was that even possible anymore?_

When dinner was over, Daryl knew he should get back to him family. They knew he was a loner, but to not come home to eat – now that they had a steady food supply was unusual and if he lingered too long they would worry.

"I'm going to head out. Thanks for dinner," he said to Abby. "You're welcome anytime," she responded. All three of them had now said that same thing to him in one form or another, and the crazy thing was he actually wholeheartedly believed them.

"I'll walk you home," Aaron said. "I've got to chat with Abraham about something anyway. I want him to help with cleaning some weapons at the armory if he's open. Olivia could use the help." Daryl had quickly realized that Aaron was responsible for quite a bit of the organizing and recruiting inside Alexandria as well as outside. He wasn't surprised given Aaron's nature. He was easy to be around.

"Okay," Daryl responded. "See y'all later," he called to Abby and Eric. "Bye," they both chimed in unison.

As they walked the few block to Daryl's house, Aaron said, "It's nice of you to spend time with Abby. I know she comes on strong, but she's really very sweet."

_Uh oh, _Daryl thought to himself. _Is this a warning? She's very sweet?_

"Do you want me to stay away from her," Daryl said quietly.

"What?" Aaron responded clearly shocked. "No, why would I want that."

"Well, I don't figure I'm exactly her usual type," Daryl answered.

Aaron turned to him and smiled, "Daryl, I really hope that one day you can see yourself the way other people see you. No, I don't mind if you get close to Abby and neither does Eric. Okay?"

"Okay," Daryl responded and gave him a slight smile.

"For what it's worth, it wouldn't matter if we minded," Aaron added laughing. "Abby is the type of girl who doesn't take no for an answer. She wants what she wants, and she usually gets it. And, my friend, it's pretty clear she wants you."

They both laughed.

"Yeah," Daryl responded. "She's not exactly what you would call shy is she?" "Nope," Aaron answered. "Not one bit."

"It's been a really long time since I've dated anyone, since way before the world went crazy even," Daryl admits to Aaron. "I feel stupid even saying the word dated."

"That's okay," Aaron said. "I think a lot of the rules for dating went out the window when people starting turning into zombies. It's not like you can go out to dinner and a movie anyone."

"Yeah," Daryl said quietly as they walked up the stairs to the porch.

"You could still ask her on a date though, you know?" Aaron added. "She would love that."

"How? Where would we go?" Daryl asked.

"Walk around the neighborhood, go on a picnic lunch, it doesn't have to be fancy. I've found that half the battle with a relationship is simply making an effort. I think that would go a long way with Abby" Aaron said.

"I'll think about it," Daryl responded and Aaron smiled.

Daryl opened the door and found his entire family having dinner in the living room with plates on their laps. "We were wondering if you were coming," Maggie said.

"I had dinner at Aaron's," Daryl responded. "He's here to talk to Abraham about a job." "Hey man," Abraham said. "Come on over," he said scooting over a bit on the couch so Aaron could sit down. Before Aaron made his way over, Daryl looked at him and said, "Thanks, man." Two simple words that meant so much. Daryl was grateful to Aaron for his new role, his kindness, his advice and for thinking he was good enough for his sister-in-law. Now to contemplate if he actually had the courage to ask Abby out.


	3. A date?

A week later…

Daryl had become a rather permanent fixture at Aaron, Eric and Abby's house. He was there at least every other day working on the bike and timed it on purpose so he could stay for dinner and spend time with Abby. He and Aaron were planning on making a recruiting trip in about a week, so they had been going on some short runs and doing some hunting together. Aaron said it was important for them to learn how each other operated and bond before they headed out for several days. Daryl had to agree it was helping. Daryl really wanted to take Abby on a private date before he left. He hadn't spent much time alone with her except when she popped into the garage to chat once in a while when he was working. As he was getting ready to leave one evening, Abby showed him to the door instead of Aaron. _Now or never_ he thought to himself.

"So, I was thinking," he said to her when they were just out of earshot of her brothers who were tidying up the kitchen. "This weekend, when you aren't working during the day, would you maybe want to take a walk with me?" It had sounded so good in his head, but he now felt completely stupid saying the words out loud.

It didn't seem to phase Abby in the slightest though. "Why, Daryl Dixon. Are you asking me on a date?" she cooed placing her hand over her heart.

"You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?" he asked her. She shook her head no smiling. "Yes," he replied more firmly but smiled. "I'm asking you on a date – or at least I guess what qualifies as dating around here." They both laughed.

"I would love, too," she finally replied grinning. "How about I pack a picnic lunch? I'll show you my favorite place around here."

"Okay," Daryl responded. "I'll come by just before lunchtime to get you day after tomorrow. Good?"

"Yep," she responded. "Perfect."


End file.
